Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble Cabaret Concert
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About
Meredith Monk is a composer, singer, choreographer, filmmaker, and creator of new opera and music theater works and a major creative force in the performing arts. A pioneer in what is now called “extended vocal technique”, she has been hailed as a “magician of the voice” and “one of America’s coolest composers”. In 1965, she began her innovative exploration of the voice as a multifaceted instrument and subsequently composed and performed many solo pieces for unaccompanied voice and voice/keyboard. In 1978, she formed Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble to further expand her musical textures and forms. Her vocal music is
an eloquent language in and of itself which expands the boundaries of
musical composition, creating landscapes of sound that unearth feelings,
energies, and memories for which there are no words. In addition to her
groundbreaking vocal and music theater pieces (which include Book
of Days, Dolmen Music, mercy, impermanence, and ATLAS), she has
created vital new repertoire for orchestra, chamber ensembles, and solo
instruments. Her music has also appeared in motion pictures by Jean-Luc
Godard and the Coen Brothers, among others. Celebrated internationally,
her music has been presented by Lincoln Center Festival, Houston Grand
Opera, London’s Barbican Centre, and at major venues in countries from
Brazil to Syria.
Meredith Monk’s numerous honors include a MacArthur “Genius” Award, two Guggenheim Fellowships and induction into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. With a discography featuring more than a dozen recordings, mostly on ECM, her CD impermanence was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award. In 2005 her 40th year of performing and creating new music was celebrated by a four-hour marathon at Zankel Hall. Another marathon, Meredith Monk Music @ the Whitney, was presented at the Whitney Museum in 2009, followed by the site-specific Ascension Variations at the Guggenheim Museum, featuring over 120 performers. Her new music theater work, Songs of Ascension, was performed at BAM’s Next Wave Festival in October 2009 and recently won the Herald Angel Award at the Edinburgh International Festival. In March 2010, her newest commission, WEAVE for Two Voices, Chamber Orchestra and Chorus, had its world premiere with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, followed by an April 2010 West Coast premiere with the Los Angeles Master Chorale at Disney Hall.
A jazz singer and new music composer of eclectic tastes and prodigious gifts, GRAMMY NOMINATED Theo Bleckmann makes music that is accessibly sophisticated, unsentimentally emotional, and seriously playful, leading his work to be described as “from another planet” (New York Times), as “magical, futuristic,” (AllAboutJazz), “limitless” (Citypaper, Philadelphia) “transcendent” (Village Voice) and “brilliant” (New York Magazine). Bleckmann has released a series of gorgeous and irreverent albums on Winter & Winter, including recordings of Las Vegas standards, of Berlin Kabarett, and of popular “bar songs” (all with pianist Fumio Yasuda), a recording of newly-arranged songs by Charles Ives (with jazz/rock collective Kneebody), and his upcoming acoustic Solos for Voice and Toys, I dwell in possibility. Bleckmann has additionally collaborated with musicians and composers, including Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, John Hollenbeck, Sheila Jordan, Phil Kline, David Lang, Kirk Nurock, Ben Monder, Michael Tilson Thomas, Julia Wolfe, John Zorn, the Bang on a Can All- stars, and, most prominently, Meredith Monk, with whom Bleckmann worked as a core ensemble member for fifteen years. He has recently been interview by Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air. www.TheoBleckmann.com
Katie Geissinger has been performing with Meredith Monk since 1990, at festivals and venues worldwide, in concert, and in pieces such as ATLAS, The Politics of Quiet (for which she is a Bessie recipient), mercy, the Grammy- nominated impermanence, and the currently touring Songs of Ascension. She premiered the Bang on a Can/Ridge Theater/Ben Katchor collaboration The Carbon Copy Building, an Obie-winner that was released on Cantaloupe, and she performed in the world tour of Philip Glass and Robert Wilson’s Einstein on the Beach, which was recently revived in concert at Carnegie Hall. Other Carnegie Hall appearances include Bach’s Magnificat with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Witch in Honegger’s Le Roi David, and Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar.
Ms. Geissinger appeared in Jonathan Miller’s staged productions of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion at BAM, and in John Tavener’s The Veil of the Temple at Lincoln Center. She is a regular soloist on the Sacred Music in a Sacred Space series in New York City. Her Broadway credits include Baz Luhrmann’s production of La bohemè and Coram Boy, and Off-Broadway she has appeared in many Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. She has premiered many new music theater pieces, including Mark Mulcahy and Ben Katchor’s The Rosenbach Company and Philip Miller’s The Hottentot Venus at MASSMoCA. She recently returned from St. Louis and Los Angeles, where she premiered Monk’s new work, WEAVE for Two Voices, Chamber Orchestra and Chorus, and a performance at the Edinburgh International Festival with Songs of Ascension.
Multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer Allison Sniffin has served as both performer and engraver of many of Monk’s works since 1996. She has performed in The Politics of Quiet, A Celebration Service, Magic Frequencies, mercy,Turtle Dreams, Book of Days, impermanence, and Songs of Ascension and has engraved and co-orchestrated Basket Rondo, Possible Sky, Stringsongs, Night, WEAVE for Two Voices, Chamber Orchestra and Chorus, and edited a book of Monk’s piano music. Ms. Sniffin’s own music has received awards by Meet the Composer and Concert Artists’ Guild. Her commissioned cantata Oyeme con los ojos for Melodia Women’s Choir of New York City premiered at Merkin Concert Hall in 2006.
Artist Website
Meredith Monk’s numerous honors include a MacArthur “Genius” Award, two Guggenheim Fellowships and induction into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. With a discography featuring more than a dozen recordings, mostly on ECM, her CD impermanence was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award. In 2005 her 40th year of performing and creating new music was celebrated by a four-hour marathon at Zankel Hall. Another marathon, Meredith Monk Music @ the Whitney, was presented at the Whitney Museum in 2009, followed by the site-specific Ascension Variations at the Guggenheim Museum, featuring over 120 performers. Her new music theater work, Songs of Ascension, was performed at BAM’s Next Wave Festival in October 2009 and recently won the Herald Angel Award at the Edinburgh International Festival. In March 2010, her newest commission, WEAVE for Two Voices, Chamber Orchestra and Chorus, had its world premiere with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, followed by an April 2010 West Coast premiere with the Los Angeles Master Chorale at Disney Hall.
A jazz singer and new music composer of eclectic tastes and prodigious gifts, GRAMMY NOMINATED Theo Bleckmann makes music that is accessibly sophisticated, unsentimentally emotional, and seriously playful, leading his work to be described as “from another planet” (New York Times), as “magical, futuristic,” (AllAboutJazz), “limitless” (Citypaper, Philadelphia) “transcendent” (Village Voice) and “brilliant” (New York Magazine). Bleckmann has released a series of gorgeous and irreverent albums on Winter & Winter, including recordings of Las Vegas standards, of Berlin Kabarett, and of popular “bar songs” (all with pianist Fumio Yasuda), a recording of newly-arranged songs by Charles Ives (with jazz/rock collective Kneebody), and his upcoming acoustic Solos for Voice and Toys, I dwell in possibility. Bleckmann has additionally collaborated with musicians and composers, including Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, John Hollenbeck, Sheila Jordan, Phil Kline, David Lang, Kirk Nurock, Ben Monder, Michael Tilson Thomas, Julia Wolfe, John Zorn, the Bang on a Can All- stars, and, most prominently, Meredith Monk, with whom Bleckmann worked as a core ensemble member for fifteen years. He has recently been interview by Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air. www.TheoBleckmann.com
Katie Geissinger has been performing with Meredith Monk since 1990, at festivals and venues worldwide, in concert, and in pieces such as ATLAS, The Politics of Quiet (for which she is a Bessie recipient), mercy, the Grammy- nominated impermanence, and the currently touring Songs of Ascension. She premiered the Bang on a Can/Ridge Theater/Ben Katchor collaboration The Carbon Copy Building, an Obie-winner that was released on Cantaloupe, and she performed in the world tour of Philip Glass and Robert Wilson’s Einstein on the Beach, which was recently revived in concert at Carnegie Hall. Other Carnegie Hall appearances include Bach’s Magnificat with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Witch in Honegger’s Le Roi David, and Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar.
Ms. Geissinger appeared in Jonathan Miller’s staged productions of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion at BAM, and in John Tavener’s The Veil of the Temple at Lincoln Center. She is a regular soloist on the Sacred Music in a Sacred Space series in New York City. Her Broadway credits include Baz Luhrmann’s production of La bohemè and Coram Boy, and Off-Broadway she has appeared in many Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. She has premiered many new music theater pieces, including Mark Mulcahy and Ben Katchor’s The Rosenbach Company and Philip Miller’s The Hottentot Venus at MASSMoCA. She recently returned from St. Louis and Los Angeles, where she premiered Monk’s new work, WEAVE for Two Voices, Chamber Orchestra and Chorus, and a performance at the Edinburgh International Festival with Songs of Ascension.
Multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer Allison Sniffin has served as both performer and engraver of many of Monk’s works since 1996. She has performed in The Politics of Quiet, A Celebration Service, Magic Frequencies, mercy,Turtle Dreams, Book of Days, impermanence, and Songs of Ascension and has engraved and co-orchestrated Basket Rondo, Possible Sky, Stringsongs, Night, WEAVE for Two Voices, Chamber Orchestra and Chorus, and edited a book of Monk’s piano music. Ms. Sniffin’s own music has received awards by Meet the Composer and Concert Artists’ Guild. Her commissioned cantata Oyeme con los ojos for Melodia Women’s Choir of New York City premiered at Merkin Concert Hall in 2006.